How Warriors unraveled in 115-108 loss to Nuggets

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DENVER – The Warriors finally settled in this city around 4 a.m. on Saturday, leaving them little time to clear their minds and rest their bodies. The Warriors were hours removed from an underwhelming performance in Sacramento full of sloppy play and apathy.

With his players battling burnout, coach Steve Kerr did his best to lighten the mood. "Let it rip and go have some fun," Kerr told his players before their game against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.

If only it were that easy. The Warriors unraveled during a 115-108 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, blowing a fourth-quarter lead for the first time in 37 games to punctuate a week that included a 30-point loss at Utah and a 25-turnover performance in Sacramento.

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Saturday, the Warriors played as most opponents do on the second night of a back-to-back, let alone the second night of a back-to-back in Denver.

"The whole fourth quarter was rough," said Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who had 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting. "50/50 balls go other way. It was tough to get in any kind of rhythm or flow."

The unraveling began with 4:29 to play and the game tied at 99. Curry lost control of the ball and it went out of bounds. Denver followed with a three-pointer from Will Barton. Later, when Kevin Durant contested Gary Harris’ shot at the rim, a wide-open Nikola Jokic buried a three to put Denver ahead 107-104 with 2:10 to play.

"You can’t get mad at that. That’s how the ball bounces," said Durant, who had 31 points on 12-of-26 shooting. "We played extremely hard in that possession to cover up some mistakes."

The Warriors (41-12) considered that play to be the game’s turning point of the game. Kerr also considered it a troubling sign.

"I talk all the time about making sure we don’t build bad habits. We’re starting to," Kerr said. "We’re not boxing out. We’re letting guys go backdoor. So that’s got to be our focus to get back on track. You can’t win at the highest level with the game on the line and not lock in."

Kerr’s solution sounded pretty simple.

"We box out. We’ll do it in practice and hopefully do it in a game," Kerr said. "You point it out, practice it and you hope they do it."

From there: Curry missed an open 3-pointer. Durant missed a free throw. Warriors forward Nick Young committed a turnover and also air-balled a 3-pointer. Young and Durant then drew technical fouls.

Young did not speak to reporters after the game, but Kerr spoke on his behalf.

"Nick got fouled. Nick’s got a wide open 3; he’s not going to shoot an airball," Kerr said. "We were already called for fouls on 3-point shooters that were pretty questionable. Once that has been established you’re going to call that, that has to continue. I was disappointed we didn’t get the foul."

That Young played in crunch time at all was a revelation. But Kerr said he wanted to have an extra shooter to space the floor, while reserves Andre Igudoala and Patrick McCaw have struggled with their shooting accuracy all season. Curry found the strategy to be "advantageous" despite the result.

"Coach made a decision," Curry said. "I’m pretty sure you’ll know what the lineup is down the stretch of the season."

Even before that, the Warriors looked sluggish. They allowed Denver (28-25) to score 44 points in the paint. They missed 23 of 31 shots from the 3-point arc. They reduced their turnovers, though, from 25 to 14 in 24 hours.

Though Durant ended with 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting, he only had two points off a pair of free throws and zero shot attempts in the first quarter. Warriors center JaVale McGee picked up three of his five fouls within a one-minute span.

On one third-quarter play, Warriors forward Draymond Green burned a timeout after falling to the floor because Durant collided with him. Despite his pregame attempts to lighten the mood, Kerr grew frustrated. He picked up a technical after arguing a traveling call on Young. He pleaded with his players to play with more energy after a shot-clock violation in the third quarter.

Still, it appeared the Warriors could survive another poor game with Klay Thompson (16) and Zaza Pachulia (10) also scoring in double-figures. The Warriors also had some light moments.

Both Thompson and Pachulia threw down a dunk, providing more highlight reels in a season-long bet on which player could finish at the rim more often.

Warriors third-year forward Kevon Looney lost a tooth after getting popped in the mouth. After shooting a foul shot, Looney grabbed the tooth off the floor.

"Tonight was way better effort than [against Sacramento," Kerr said. "The spirit was right. The energy was right. The execution was not, but we can work on that."